If I asked you to think about the late 1980s, what would come to mind? The music, the fashion, the celebrity gossip?

For business professionals, the end of the 80s didn’t just mean big hair and the rise of grunge music-- it also meant the first professional software suites were hitting the market.

While professional software suites may look very different today than when they first started out-- for example, today many of the most popular suites have made the move to the cloud-- they remain an essential part of many marketing workflows.

One of the most popular office suites today is G Suite, Google’s collection of cloud-based business applications. Taking advantage of G Suite tools-- in particular, the Google Sheets application-- is the secret to creating a truly effective mail merge campaign.

In this article, we’ll prove that Google Sheets is the secret to getting more out of your mail merge campaigns by covering:

Reasons G Suite is the right choice for your business

What the Gmass extension for Google Chrome is and why you should know it

How to use the Gmass to take your mail merge campaigns to the next level

G Suite is a powerful mail merge tool for small businesses and large corporations alike.

1. No Matter How Big or Small Your Business, G Suite Has All of the Tools You Need to Succeed

In early 2017, the well-known online technology news source Techcrunch broke a surprising story: Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that there were more than 3 million businesses using G Suite for smart and secure cloud computing.

But why are so many businesses turning to G Suite for everything from email to word processing to creating spreadsheets and presentation slides?

Security

Affordability

Collaboration

i. Google’s G Suite Platform is Super Secure

Your company relies on data to keep it running day in and day out, so it makes sense that data security is top priority for startups, enterprise-level organizations, and every business in between.

Google has the resources to keep your data secure, and G Suite offers businesses the option to add an extra layer of security with features like two-factor authentication.

ii. The Price of G Suite is Right for Big and Small Businesses Alike

Finding the right tools for your business is a balancing act-- you want the best quality possible without breaking the budget. When you choose G Suite, you don’t have to sacrifice quality or cost. G Suite pricing is fixed at a low monthly rate, making it easy to afford on even the tightest budget.

iii. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work in G Suite’s Collaborative Apps

If two heads are better than one, imagine how much you can get done with a whole team working on a project! G Suite makes real-time collaboration simple, which can take your company’s productivity to a whole new level.

G Suite gives your company the power to innovate and collaborate, plus it makes managing mail merge campaigns easier than ever before.

Personalize mass emails with name, address, and any other information you make store in your Google Sheets

Schedule emails to be sent later

Send follow-up emails

Create recipient lists based on search results

And more

An effective mail merge campaign is the secret to getting your message recipients to engage with your business.

3. How to Send Smarter Mail Merge Campaigns with Google Sheets

Now that you know why G Suite is a great tool for businesses of any size and the powerful mail merge tool Gmass is on your radar, it’s time to bring those tools together to step up your mail merge game.

After signing up for a Google account and downloading the Gmass extension for Google Chrome, follow these simple steps to get started:

This is what your Google Sheet should look like if you’re going to use it for a mail merge campaign with Gmass.

1. Make sure your spreadsheet is formatted correctly.

In order for mail merge software to read information from your database, your spreadsheet needs to be formatted correctly. When you create your spreadsheet, make sure the first row contains column names with no spaces or special characters.

One of the columns should contain email addresses. Your actual data should be in rows 2 and after.

You should see an icon that looks like a small grid to the right of your “Search Mail” bar. Click on it to start creating your mail merge campaign with Google Sheets.

2. Select the spreadsheet you would like to use in Gmass.

Once you have your spreadsheet all set up, go to your Gmail inbox. You should notice a sheets icon near the search bar at the top of your inbox. Clicking on it will open a popup box that allows you to select any of your Google Sheets spreadsheets. Select your spreadsheet, and then click “Connect.”

The popup that appears when you click on the spreadsheet icon allows you to connect a spreadsheet for your mail merge campaign.

3. Create personalized mass emails.

In your message editing window, click on “Settings” to reveal personalization buttons based on the information in your spreadsheet.

Clicking these buttons will insert personalized information into your message. They work in the Subject line and the Body of your message.

Sawaram Suthar is head of marketing at Acquire, and also a founder of Jagat Media, a digital marketing agency. A digital marketing consultant, he has experience in things including branding, promotions and page optimization, along with research and strategy. He has an MBA from the University of Pune. Anyone can find him on @sawarams.